TERRAFORMERACCESSORY PACKAGE FOR PROFANTASY SOFTWARE'S FRACTAL TERRAINS PRO
Image Courtesy NASA/JPL
USER'S MANUALUSER'S MANUALUSER'S MANUALUSER'S MANUALC.2008 By Bill Roach
Release: 0.001
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TABLE OF CONTENTSTABLE OF CONTENTSTABLE OF CONTENTSTABLE OF CONTENTS
License...........................................................................Pages 4 – 6
Disclaimer.......................................................................Page 7
Credits............................................................................Page 8
Introduction.................................................................Pages 10 – 17
“So What's Wrong With The “Gaia” Shader?”................Pages 18 – 24
“Step 1: Installing The Lighting And Color,(.lgt), Files....Pages 25 – 34
“Step 2: Using The Terraformer Image Climate Files, (TIC###).:
2a, “Understanding The Concept Of The Image Climate File.” Pages 35 – 43
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2b, “Loading The Image Climate File.”..............................Pages 44 – 46
“Step 3: Cloud Layering In Fractal Terrains Pro.”..............Pages 47 – 58
Terraformer Package Contents List. ................................Pages 59 - 61
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LICENSELICENSELICENSELICENSE
“Fractal Terrains Pro”, “Campaign Cartographer 2 Pro”, and “Campaign Cartographer 3”are properties of Profantasy Software Ltd..
“Bryce 5, Bryce 5.5, and Bryce 6” are properties of DAZ 3D.
“Astrosynthesis” is a property of the NBOS software company.
“Windows 95”, “Windows 98”, “Windows ME”, “Windows XP”, “Windows Vista”, “WindowsNotepad”, and “Windows Microsoft Paint” are trademarks of the Microsoft Corp..
“Photoshop” is a trademark property of the Adobe Corporation. “Paint Shop Pro” is atrademark property of JASC.
“WILBUR” is an application owned and authored by Joe Slayton.
#1, Image climate file “ICJS0001” courtesy of Joe Slayton. The intented use of ICJS0001as a Fractal Terrains Pro shader – and all user created compositions and and worksderived and produced from it's intended use - are unrestricted by this license.Distribution and modification of the ICJS0001 file itself is conditional upon attribution toJoe Slayton, and is also conditional upon the inclusion of this license agreement with allredistributed bundles specifically containing the ICJS0001 .bmp / jpeg image file.
#2, Real satellite and space imagery contained within the Terraformer package arecourtesy of NASA /JPL/ NOAA – and fall under the public domain provisions of such U.S.Government produced imagery and materials requiring conditional attribution ifpresented in unmodified form. Such images shall be recognizable by virtue of thepresence of the terms “NASA”, “JPL”, and / or “NOAA” spelled out within their file name(s)as they are contained and labeled within the “TERRAFORMER For Fractal Terrains Pro”accessory package (see body of Terraformer User's manual for further clarification ofconditions of use for NASA/ JPL/ NOAA imagery).Use of NASA /JPL/ NOAA images as either transparent cloud layer maps for FractalTerrains Pro generated maps, or as sectioned / modified elements / components ofcomposite textures as they would feasably be applied for use within Profantasy Software'sFractal Terrains Pro, are not restricted by this license.
#3, The user(s) may alter, modify, use, and distribute all Terraformer Image Climate .bmp / jpeg files (those image files with a “TIC” prefix in the file name – such as “TIC001” and “TIC125” as examples) without restrictions – and free of royalty requirements by any means or form.
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#4, The modification, and distribution of the Terraformer .lgt color scheme files fallunder the authority of identically the same license agreement contained within theProfantasy Software's Fractal Terrains Pro proprietary software package – insomuch asthe body of that license itself may refer to, or pertain to such.The intended use of the Terraformer .lgt files - and all user created compositions andworks derived / produced from their intended use - are unrestricted by this license.
#5, Cloud maps (.bmp / jpeg image files) having the prefix “HNXP” spelled out clearly intheir specific file names - are aggregate compositions created / generated under thedirection of Hari Nair from public domain source satellite image fragments for the opensource “XPLANET PROJECT” software program(s). Attribution is not required – but wouldbe greatly appreciated in situations where the cloud maps are displayed “as is” in anymedia, where they have not been applied as a transparency upon a flat map or model.
#6, The same stipulations / provisions of this license pertaining to “HNXP” prefixed cloud Maps / image files (license stipulation #5) also applies identically to those images /cloud maps produced by Björn Jónsson, and that have the prefix “BjörnJónsson” spelledout clearly in their specific file names.
#7, All other images contained within the TERRAFORMER Fractal Terrains Pro AccessoryPackage that are not feasably covered by the afore mentioned use conditions are withoutrestriction of any kind upon their use or distribution.
#8, This license strictly – and specifically – applies to only this first release “alpha” editionof the TERRAFORMER package designated “Release 0.001”, and it's contents as listedand defined within the user manual for “Release 0.001”, and does not apply / is nontransferable to any future releases of the “TERRAFORMER” package / materials bundle.
#9, Free, non-commercial distribution of this package is without restriction, provided thatall package components / parts are included in the distributed package – as they are listedin the TERRAFORMER For Fractal Terrains Pro User's Manual.
#10, Profantasy Software LTD. May distribute this package in full - free - to the public andit's customer client base (not included in a commercial software bundle) without anyrestrictions whatsoever.
#11, Profantasy Software LTD. May use any included author created images andrenderings for promotional purposes for Fractal Terrains Pro without renumeration,royalty, or fee requirement in the interests of promoting the continued existance anddevelopment of the Fractal Terrains Pro program.
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#12, Profantasy Software LTD. May distribute this package bundled with a commercialsoftware package with no fees or royalty obligations - if the commercially bundled versioncontains ONLY the user's manual or a copy of the license agreement, the image climate files(those image files with a “TIC” prefix in the file name – such as“TIC001” and “TIC125” asexamples), the NASACM prefixed cloud maps, and the .lgt files. In this case – ProfantasySoftware LTD. May edit the user's manual to conform to such exclusive material omissions /limitations, and omit any articles it sees fit including any cloud maps, image climate files, or.lgt files.
#13, Profantasy Software LTD. May distribute the entire full TERRAFORMER package bundledwith a commercial product provided that Profantasy Software LTD. Satisfies / clarifies /resolves any commercial distribution issues with all other contributors except for the author(Bill Roach) – and a free access copy of the TERRAFORMER package is also made available tothe public in some form - in which specific case Profantasy Software LTD. May distribute theTERRAFORMER package with NO restrictions whatsoever.
#14, This package in whole may be distributed non commercially, provided that thepackage is complete – and all materials listed in the manual are enclosed, and NO FEE ISREQUIRED FOR ACCESS TO THIS PACKAGE - OR ANY OF IT'S INCLUDED MATERIALS –TO THE GENERAL INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC – INCLUDING HOSTING ON WEB SITES ORPAGES REQUIRING REGISTRATION FEES OR SUBSCRIPTION FEES FOR MEMBERSHIP.This package and all included files may be hosted on a commercial or non commercialwebsite or web page(s).
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DISCLAIMER:This package and all included files, applications, and software are provided “as is”.Installation and / or use of this package, or any element thereof, signifies that the userunderstands that use of this software is at the discretion and excepted risk of the user orusers of this package.
The author of this package (Bill Roach), or Profantasy Software Ltd., shall NOT be in anyway held liable or responsible in any capacity, for damage to any computer(s) hardware orsoftware that may result from the intended or unintended use of this package, or any ofit's elements or contents therein.
This package - in it's initial ALPHA RELEASE currently as of September 15, 2007 – has noformal support, and being in the testing phase, is without gaurantees. Since this specificrelease is meant as a FREE “as is” resource, then there are no real or implied warrantiesassigned or claimable.
“For further information about Fractal Terrains Pro – visit:”
http://www.profantasy.com/products/ft.asp
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IMAGES AND TEXTURES:IMAGES AND TEXTURES:IMAGES AND TEXTURES:IMAGES AND TEXTURES:
Bill Roach,,,,
NASA / JPL / NOAA,,,,
(Real Images And Cloud Maps).(Real Images And Cloud Maps).(Real Images And Cloud Maps).(Real Images And Cloud Maps).
Joe Slayton,,,,
http://www.ridgenet.net/~jslayton/index.htmlhttp://www.ridgenet.net/~jslayton/index.htmlhttp://www.ridgenet.net/~jslayton/index.htmlhttp://www.ridgenet.net/~jslayton/index.html
Björn Jónsson
(Cloud Maps),(Cloud Maps),(Cloud Maps),(Cloud Maps),http://www.mmedia.is/~bjj/http://www.mmedia.is/~bjj/http://www.mmedia.is/~bjj/http://www.mmedia.is/~bjj/
Hari Nair / XPLANET PROJECT
(Cloud Maps).(Cloud Maps).(Cloud Maps).(Cloud Maps).
http://alumnus.caltech.edu/~hari/http://alumnus.caltech.edu/~hari/http://alumnus.caltech.edu/~hari/http://alumnus.caltech.edu/~hari/http://xplanet.sourceforge.net/http://xplanet.sourceforge.net/http://xplanet.sourceforge.net/http://xplanet.sourceforge.net/
TECHNICAL CONSULTANTS:TECHNICAL CONSULTANTS:TECHNICAL CONSULTANTS:TECHNICAL CONSULTANTS:
Joe Slayton,,,,
http://www.ridgenet.net/~jslayton/index.htmlhttp://www.ridgenet.net/~jslayton/index.htmlhttp://www.ridgenet.net/~jslayton/index.htmlhttp://www.ridgenet.net/~jslayton/index.html
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Produced / Created Produced / Created Produced / Created Produced / Created
By By By By
Bill Roach....
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INTRODUCTION
“Fractal Terrains Pro is designed around creating maps for war games
and role playing games.” It's purpose is to create maps that conveyimportant information about the game setting (game world) to players andgame referees (game masters) alike concerning things like geographicalfeatures, weather patterns, environment types (climate zones), etc.. It'sfunctions are primarily topographical and informational in nature, and arenot really aimed towards creating anything as complicated or involved aslife like simulations or “photo realistic” images per'se.
Fractal Terrains Pro does however, provide the user with the ability tomake custom color schemes for their maps using .lgt files , and imageclimate files . The program is enhanceable with user created elements,which is one of it's nicer aspects. F.T. Pro allows the user to create andintegrate personalized map colors and textures into their work flow. TheTerraformer package exploits this - so that the Fractal Terrains Pro usercan produce maps that are extremely realistic looking, given F.T. Pro'scurrent limitations.
“Terraformer” is an ongoing experiment that I've been working on forquite a while now.” It's all about using Fractal Terrains Pro to make mapsof model worlds that have a realistic quality - by incorporating imageclimate files and color schemes that are directly sampled from actualspace images of the Earth, (and other terrestrial planets), taken bysatellites and space craft. The idea is to enable you to see what a fictionalworld might look like if it were a “real” world. Terraformer is a collection ofshaders and other accessory materials made for use with Fractal TerrainsPro. It is a two part process that uses the included image climate files inconjunction with the included .lgt files to produce map colorations that arefar more realistic and believable than what F.T. Pro's default shaders cancurrently do.
I Have corresponded with other F.T. PRO users who have expressed adesire for this kind of program enhancement. I began this project becauseI wanted the same thing that they did. This is my way of starting the ballrolling on trying to answer that need a little better, for myself – and anyoneelse who might be interested in producing maps like this.
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By making F.T. Pro capable of generating realistic looking world maps, you can do a lot of things. For example, you can take a map
and label it - so that you can use it as a “flat” topographical map - then, take the same map (unlabeled), slap a “cloud layer” onto it in F.T. Pro's Image Overlay Window, and then wrap it around a model
planet in a 3d modeling and rendering program like Bryce, (Bryce 5, Bryce 5.5, or Bryce 6.0), to render a nice space view of your world.This makes the map that you create more versatile and multi functional.
If you use NBOS Software's ASTROSYNTHESIS 2.0 in conjunction with FT PRO and this accessory kit, then you can create planet blazons and planet reference views that are stunningly believable – giving you
some really awesome star system maps and animations.
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Note that the image climate files that I have created, and the .lgt files included in the Terraformer bundle, have been derived from sampled colors and textures taken from actual NASA / JPL imagery. These Files, with the exception of Joe Slayton's file, might contain colors that may not be properly interpreted by Campaign Cartographer 2 Pro due to their complexity (the number of colors that they incorporate). My shaders should be excellent for use as a tool for making
alternative versions of maps of Fractal Terrains Pro worlds that will also be mapped in C.C.2 Pro as well – albeit perhaps separately using more C.C.2 Pro compliant color schemes and shaders. None of these files have been C.C.2 file export tested as of yet however, so please feel free to experiment.
Here are some examples of what the Terraformer shaders can do:
The first example map (below) is a depiction of the world of “Barsoom”(Mars) from Edgar Rice Burroughs series of Mars / Barsoom serialspublished from 1912 to 1942, and are the inspiration behind MarvelComics “John Carter – Warlord Of Mars” long running comic book series.
I used the “TIC037” image climate file, and the F.T.Pro default LightingAnd Color .lgt shader “Vaguely Mars” to produce this map.
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The next example map (below) is a simple world map using theTerraformer .lgt lighting and color shader “T_07”, and the image climatefile “TIC125”.:
As you can see, on flat maps these shaders work wonderfully,accentuating added text and graphics, and giving an overall excellentpresentation. I had to define the desert climates within F.T. Pro itselfbecause the climate zones for the ETOPO2 binary / hdr elevation fileswere not defined correctly by default. F.T. Pro did not recognize wherethe deserts should have been (roughly).
While making these image climate files and .lgt files – I used a lot ofNASA / JPL imagery, and experimented a lot with “mixing and matching”textures to fit them correctly, and to properly blend them into the climatespaces of the default F.T. Pro image climate shader, (used as a template).I used the free open source graphics editing program “The Gimp” - inconjunction with a few free photoshop .8bf filters – to fine tune theimages for whatever desired effect that I wanted. The image climate fileswere pieced together initially in Microsoft Paint. The .lgt files form thefoundations of the oceans – and creating them was also a tedious anddaunting task as well. I think so far – it's really paid off nicely.
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I made the Terraformer shaders basically because I wanted to create“universal” maps that could be used either as flat maps – or textures for3D globe / planet images (dual purpose). These shaders work very well for 3D textures – as you can see from this Earth globe (below) that I madeusing an exported spherical map from F.T. Pro incorporating my “TIC125”image climate file, my T_07 .lgt file, and a very nice transparent cloudmap that I improvised from multiple cloud maps and NOAA storm images,(this cloud map is included in the Terraformer package). The globe wasthen modeled, textured, and rendered in DAZ 3D's Bryce 5.5.:
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Below is an image of a terraformed Mars that I did using the samemethods and Terraformer shaders that I used on my Earth globe. Whatyou see are the results of how F.T. Pro generated the texture map.:
Here is another image of a completely fictional world using a maprandomly generated by F.T. Pro – again – shaded using the same shadersas the previous two images, with the model rendered in Bryce 5.5.:
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Provided that your climate zones are properly done, and accuratelydefined, (mine really were not – but the results were sufficient for thisdemonstration), any “real world” elevation file of an actual place that canbe imported into Fractal Terrains Pro and textured using the rightTerraformer shaders, should generate very realistic depictions of thoseplaces from a “space borne” perspective. Not exactly perfect simulations,but in my opinion, much better than what is currently available fromFractal Terrains Pro's default shader options.
The Terraformer shaders took a great deal of time to make. Texturecomponents for the Image Climate Files were cropped from locationswithin the source NASA / JPL images that, as closely as possible, matchedthe approximate climate zones to which those cropped textures would beassigned. At times some embellishments were done experimentally, (forexample – using a piece of temperate forest texture for savanna textures,or as a transition zone between tropical deciduous forest textures anddense tropical forest textures).
Remember that the purpose of this kit is not for making purelytopographical maps – Fractal Terrains Pro can already do that.It is instead meant to give the F.T. Pro user the ability to generate maps that are far more aesthetically realistic than what F.T. Pro can produce using only it's default color options. Realism is the core objective of thisexperiment, perhaps not “perfect” realism – but as real looking as F.T. Prowill allow, given it's limitations.
The contents of this package represent the various experimental stagesof developing my color schemes and image climates that I have workedon over a long period of time. There are currently over 125 image climatefiles, and 7 .lgt files contained in this kit. This is an ongoing project that Iwill hopefully be able to continue to improve upon and to expand as timepermits.
This manual assumes that you already have some basic knowledge andexperience in using Fractal Terrains Pro. Nonetheless – everything isexplained clearly, and in a simple “step by step” way. It should be prettyeasy to follow for those who have even a basic working knowledge ofFractal Terrains Pro.
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Many thanks to Joseph Slayton (author of the WILBUR mapping program and father of the F.T. PRO program engine) - for informing me about climate imaging, and contributing his image climate file to help to develop this tool kit for everyone to enjoy – and to everyone at the F.T. Pro / CC2 / CC3 mailing group for their input as well. You are invited to distribute this package to other F.T. PRO users non commercially, (free of charge).
I would also like to encourage you to build upon my work and efforts, and to expand upon them, by developing more color schemes, cloudmaps, and image climate files for FT PRO, and making those filesavailable to the general public as well. A good way to start is to contributeyour files to the Profantasy Software's Map and Catalogue Library at thisaddress:
http://www.profantasy.com/library/upload.asp
Thank you for using the “Terraformer For Fractal Terrains Pro Accessory Package”, I hope these accessories will help you in creating some really beautiful maps. B.R.
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“So What's Wrong WithThe “Gaia” Shader?”
“Fractal Terrains Pro already has a decorative shader in it's arsenal of
coloration options designed to give generated maps an appearance of being Earth like.” This shader is referred to as the “Gaia View”, and isfound under F.T. Pro's “Map” Menu option “Show Gaia”.
The Gaia Shader is a good shader, and it really works well if the F.T. Prouser only wants to make their maps “look pretty” - and isn't all thatconcerned about how aesthetically realistic, or climatologically accuratethe maps are. If however, you are a tad bit of a perfectionist, or if youwant your maps to resemble “real” satellite images of truly “Earth like”worlds, then the Gaia shader has a few problems that causes it to fall wellshort of being adequate for quality simulations. Note that the only modelof a real living world that we have to use as a reference is the Earth itself.
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Below is a comparison of three globe images. Notice the apparentdifferences between them all.:
The first globe from the right is a NASA / JPL real Earth image, presumablya composite made from separate real satellite mosaic images, and is areliable depiction of what the Earth actually looks like. The second imageis a model rendered using a texture map created in Fractal Terrains Pro,using the TIC125 shader and the T_07 .lgt lighting and color file. The thirdimage is a model rendered using a texture map – again created in F.T. Pro -and using only the F.T. Pro “Gaia” shader to define the planet's surface .
Upon close scrutiny – several issues with the Gaia shader are noticeable,:
#1, The oceans are too uniformly brightly colored.
#2, The land areas not covered with vegetation are too dark – and are not accurately colored at all, (too “yellowish” in some places, and too “brownish” in others).
#3, There seems to be no “strict” correlation between climate zones and color / vegetation distributions.
#4, The Gaia shader gives less of an apparent variety of coloration in general.
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One reason for most of these issues is very simple. The Gaia shader isbased upon the limited 256 colors available in Fractal Terrain Pro's defaultcolor palette. Both the NASA / JPL images – and the Terraformer shaders,(which are based upon those NASA / JPL images), contain many morecolors – and in R.G.B. Values that do not exist within the 256 colorstandard. Visual reality contains more than 256 colors. A good way to getan idea of what “correct” Earth colors look like is to study actual Earthimages.:
The above images were taken by the Clementine spacecraft launchedJanuary 25, 1994. Note the colorations of the land masses and oceans,particularly in the image on the right. The Earth's oceans generally appearbrighter in space images only in areas of the most solar reflection. Theoceans are actually more darkly colored, (except in cases of extremedepth shallowness, such as along some coastal regions for example).There is subtle red over saturation in the image on the right – but the imageis, for the most part - pretty accurate color wise.
Not all of the Terraformer shaders, (Image Climate files), are attempts atrecreating exact Earth textures – as some of the shaders are experimentalin nature, (for example, TIC003, TIC004, TIC037, and TIC040 are“experimental” shaders). TIC037 was made from cropped sections of aNASA / JPL (Seal) texture map of the planet Mars. Most of the shadersactually are, however, efforts to simulate more “Earth like” terrains usingvarious different approaches in order to make images more realistic – andsomewhat aesthetically reasonable insomuch as modeling worlds that are“Earth like” are concerned. They were created from sampling R.G.B. colorvalues and cropped texture sections from actual NASA / JPL satelliteimages of the Earth.
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These shaders were developed to try to, as closely as possible, match orimprove upon the approximate shadings found on NASA / JPL globalcylindrical satellite composite map images of the whole Earth, (such as,for example, the global monthly images found at the “Blue Marble NextGeneration” website at:
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/BlueMarble/BlueMarble_monthlies.html ).
Many different NASA / JPL maps, in differing resolutions, were used tomake the Terraformer shaders. Below is a typical example of a NASA / JPLcylindrical global composite – which were used as models / references fordeveloping the Terraformer shaders.
NASA “false colorizes” many of the satellite images used to create thesecomposite maps in order to “accurize” them – i.e., to, as closely aspossible, make them factual representations of the Earth's surface as itappears from space. These colors are based on real spectrographic datataken from multiple sources.
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If we compare a NASA / JPL map, (top – below), with a Gaia shaded F.T.Pro map, (bottom – below), we can then see the glaring inconsistenciesbetween them.:
These maps simply do not match at all. The obvious conclusion is that theGaia shaded map gets a grade of “F” on color accuracy, (if we use theNASA / JPL map as a control). Remember that for the sake of ourargument here, we want to develop a shader that matches the NASA / JPLmap's colors and color distributions as closely as possible – and that willproduce the best results, (given F.T. Pro's operational limits).
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If we again compare the NASA / JPL map, (top – below), with a mapgenerated in F.T. Pro using the Terraformer image climate file TIC125, andthe Terraformer .lgt file T_07, (bottom – below),we can then see a muchbetter fit:.
The Terraformer shaded map here, gets a grade somewhere between a “B -”, and a “C”. It's not a “perfect” match – but far better by leaps andbounds than an “F”.
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Some of the Terraformer shaders can actually produce maps that seemmuch closer to matching the NASA / JPL model than the previousdemonstration. The ocean colors in the Terraformer shaded map on theprevious page, (using the T_07 .lgt file), are actually closer to many realEarth images than what you see in the NASA / JPL global composite aboveit – specifically in how the shallower waters are defined color wise. Someof the shaders produce results so close to actual “real life” satellite imagecolor assignments – that they could fool quite a few people.
Given what Fractal Terrains Pro currently can and cannot do – creating amap that is a perfect match to our NASA / JPL model is impossible, butdeveloping a shader that can generate a map with colors and colordistributions that comes very close to matching it is really quite doable, (asmany of the Terraformer shaders show). In this respect, the Terraformerpackage can be considered a huge “upgrade” from the default Gaiashader found in Fractal Terrains Pro.
The map above is a good example of how using real Earth image derivedshaders can help you model fictional worlds in F.T. Pro that are extremelyrealistic looking and believable. This is the idea behind Terraformer. The Terraformer accessory package is the product of much research andexperimentation – and the results thus far seems to have turned out prettygood.
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Step 1: Installing The Lighting AndColor, (.lgt), Files.
“TTTThe Terraformer shading system is a two part operation.” The Image
Climate Files will define the land textures of your model world, and thelighting and color, (.lgt), files will define the ocean and water bodycolorations. However, before doing anything, you have to unzip theTerraformer Package to a file folder on your desktop. Assuming that youare reading this manual somehow without having moved the contents ofthe Terraformer kit to a desktop folder – we'll now briefly go over doingthis.
First – you have to create a New Folder on your desktop. Within WindowsVista, this is done by right clicking the desktop screen – moving yourcursor over the “New” popup menu option – and then left clicking (orselecting) “Folder” from the popup menu that trees out from the“New”popup menu option.:
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Earlier versions of the Windows Operating System, (XP, NT, 2000, ME,Windows 98, and Windows 95), should follow roughly the same generalmethod for creating new desktop folders.
Next you simply rename the new folder “TERRAFORMER”, or somethingelse that's sufficiently distinctive, and – using whatever zip utilities youmight have handy – unzip / decompress / extract the contents of theTerraformer zip file to your new desktop folder.
Next – you'll want to open your new “TERRAFORMER” folder and locate afile folder within it that is labeled with the file name “LGT”. This is whereyou will find your Terraformer Lighting And Color files, (.lgt files). Nowopen the “LGT” folder. You should now see a list of .lgt files labeled “T_01”through “T_07”. Some of these .lgt files have much larger file sizes thantypical F.T. Pro Lighting And Color files.
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This is something like what you should see when you open the “LGT”folder.:
Next – you want to access the “Edit” menu option “Select All” in the FileExplorer window, in Vista – this can be done by pressing the “Alt” buttonon your keyboard to call up the explorer window menu tabs.:
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You can also select all of the .lgt files by depressing your left mousebutton (two button mouse or track ball), and carefully dragging yourscreen cursor / pointer over the files in one direction.This can be tricky – and takes some practice. The selected files will thenbe highlighted.
Next – after all of the files are in selected mode – again - you want toaccess the “Edit” Windows Explorer menu option – and then you want toleft click, (select), the “Copy To Folder” option on the “Edit” pull downmenu.:
You will be installing the .lgt files from the Terraformer “LGT” file folder tothe “Coloring” folder in your Fractal Terrains Pro (FT) program filedirectory. This is the first step in using the Terraformer shading system.Again – these .lgt files will form the colors for your oceans, seas, and othermajor bodies of water on your map(s).
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When you click the “Copy To Folder” option – you will see the following popup screen entitled “Copy Items” (In Windows XP / Vista).:
Locate your “FT”, (Fractal Terrains Pro), program folder – and it'ssubdirectory folder labeled “Coloring”. Left click on “Coloring” to highlightit – then click on the “Copy” button to begin copying your Terraformer .lgtfiles into the Fractal Terrains Pro “Coloring” subdirectory program folder.
That's it. You can also do it the hard way by opening the “FT / Coloring”folder, and the Terraformer “LGT” folder in separate Explorer windows andthen dragging the files from the “LGT” folder to the “FT/Coloring” foldermanually, or, you can just use the old tried and true “copy and paste”method by just copying the files, opening the “FT/Coloring” folder, andthen simply pasting them in there.
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Now you have to verify that our install was successful, and test the filesout in F.T. Pro. First – open F.T. Pro, and either generate a new world – or,such as in this example – select “binary world” - and use the ETOPO2world terrain elevation file that is included on the F.T. Pro disk (it reallydoesn't matter either way). Now select the “Map” menu option.:
Next - From the “Map” pull down menu – Let's select the “Lighting AndColor” option.
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The “Lighting And Color” pop up window should now appear. If theinstallation was successful, the Terraformer .lgt Lighting And Color filesshould appear listed on the left column scroll screen.:
The Terraformer .lgt files all differ only in the ocean colorations and colorlevels per file. The land area colors (above sea level) are all roughly thesame. The .lgt file closest to matching our model NASA / JPL map featuredback on page 21 is “T_01”, while arguably - the most dramatic and “best ofthe bunch” visually is “T_07”. The “T_07” shader may actually be a betterchoice because of more diverse color variation, and it's apparantresemblance to many “real” Earth images, when used in conjunction withglobal binary elevation files such as ETOPO2 .
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Now – you're going to select one of the Terraformer .lgt shaders on the leftcolumn scroll screen by left clicking on it, (standard two button mouse ortrackball), in this case, we'll choose “T_07”.:
Notice the color bar on the right indicating the colors per altitude level.Each .lgt file was created by sampling R.G.B.,(Red,Green,Blue), colorvalues from source NASA / JPL images. We are not so much interestedhere in the “land” color values produced by the “T_07” shader, as we arethe water colorations, or “sea” color values. Now we will click on the“Load” button, and then the “Apply” button, and then we will close the“Lighting And Color” pop up window.
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Next – you're going to go back and access the “Map” menu bar optionagain, and scroll down to find the “Show Altitude” option. The “ShowAltitude” option colors your map according to the Lighting And Colorscheme that you chose in the “Lighting And Color” pop up window. Clickon “Show Altitude”. :
The “Lighting And Color” option basically allows you to customize the mapcoloration options for several different kinds of topographical map viewsincluding climate zones. You can only use flat colors when customizingcolor palettes through this screen, (not textures) however, so we will notbe using climate color customization through the “Lighting And Color”option. The altitude colors are what gives your seas and oceans theircoloration when you create a map using the Terraformer Image Climatefiles, (TIC###) to texture the land masses according to climate withinFractal Terrains Pro.
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“Your “Altitude” map should now be on the screen, and it should looksomething like this.”:
The Terraformer .lgt files alone will produce very impressive maps thatreveal land surface elevations quite nicely – however – these .lgt files areprimarily meant to be used with the Terraformer Image Climate files(TIC###) when creating a map that is meant to portray a “relativelyaccurate” representation of an “Earth like” world. You can use either justthe Terraformer .lgt shaders, or only the Image Climate files to make somevery nice maps, but you really don't get the full impact of what theseshaders can do until you use both types of shaders together.
Next – we will cover using the Terraformer image climate files.This is a much simpler operation than installing the .lgt files because – byunzipping the Terraformer package into a desktop folder – you havealready basically “installed” the Terraformer image climates. You merelyhave to access them in your “TERRAFORMER” folder from within FractalTerrains Pro in order to use them.
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Step 2: Using The Terraformer ImageClimate Files, (TIC###).:
2a, “Understanding The Concept Of The Image Climate File.”:
“FFFFractal Terrains Pro uses a unique alternative method of shading maps
that surprisingly enough, is probably one of it's least known and leastused, yet most incredible features.” F.T. Pro can actually take any bitmapor jpeg image, (scaled correctly) – read it in sections – and then use it toshade the land features of a generated map. This feature is accessedunder the “Map”/“Show Other Shader”/”Show Image Climate” drop downmenu options tree.:
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When you select “Show Image Climate” within F.T. Pro from the“Map”/“Show Other Shader”/”Show Image Climate” drop down menuoptions tree - you will then see the “Alternate Climate Coloration” pop upwindow appear.:
Note the patch work “test pattern” image made up of geometric shapes,each filled with a different and unique color that is displayed by default. These represent the default colors of F.T. Pro's “Climate Palette”. Eachcolor actually represents an individual climate zone. If you choose the“Show Climate” option under the “Map” drop down menu, your map's landareas will be shaded with these default colors.
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The climate zones, (biomes), as they are displayed in the “AlternateClimate Coloration” window, are shown here labeled for you.:
Irregardless of what image, (bitmap or jpeg), that you might choose toload in as a shader in the “Alternate Climate Coloration” window, F.T. Prowill always read the image to conform to this general pattern – anddistribute those partitioned image sections belonging to each “climatezone” across the map accordingly in the form of a surface texture. Whenmaking your own Image Climate files – you can use the F.T. Pro defaultclimate shader image as a template, (a template is provided with theTerraformer bundle - in the “IMAGE_CLIMATES” folder, under the file name“TICT”).
The structure of the “Alternate Climate Coloration” window is based upona rudimentary form of the “Whittaker biome distribution model”. Thismodel was developed by American ecologist Robert H. Whittaker. Itcalculates where a climate zone, (biome / ecosystem), “should” be locatedon a typical “ x,y ” graph, where “x” is the temperature, and “y” representsthe precipitation.
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The climate zone positions on the graph, (it's boundaries), are plottedaccording to values of precipitation (rainfall) vs. temperature, with theorigin of this graph, (point (y=0,x=0)), located at the upper left corner ofthe image window. The graphic below is an illustration of the basicconcept of the Whittaker model – as it would apply to any Image Climatefile loaded into the “Alternate Climate Coloration” window.:
As you proceed towards the right from the origin, the temperature rises.As you proceed down from the origin, the precipitation increases.Theoretically, in general, the warmer and wetter an environment is, themore abundant, and more diverse, the vegetation becomes, (moregenerally stated – the more complex and multi layered the local biomestend to be – biodiversity tends to increase under these conditions).
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In the lower left corner of the “Alternate Climate Coloration” window,there are three values that are displayed for Temperature, Rainfall, andClimate.:
moving your screen pointer around on the displayed Image will causethese values to rapidly change. This is because you are moving yourscreen pointer across an “x,y” graph where arbitrary locations have “x”,(Temperature), and “y” (rainfall) coordinates. By clicking the “Show Grid”box on the A.C.C. window – you can add a grid pattern overlay to the imagethat will help you to track these value changes more clearly as you moveyour screen pointer around, which is a huge help in designing your ownimage climate files.
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This graphic shows image climate file “TIC125” - with the grid box on - inthe Alternate Climate Coloration window.:
If you want to design your own image climates, then you can use theafore mentioned features within the Alternate Climate Coloration windowto check and recheck your work, as you develop them. The A.C.C. windowfeatures can help you to “tweak” your images in a separate graphics editorfor added realism and effect - by giving you the visual data that you mightneed, to know where to put the right colors for the best map render.This is why these features are here. Fractal Terrains Pro provides you withthe flexibility to use your own custom map textures – and to help you tomake them as realistic (or fantastic) as you want them to be.
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Back on page 37, you read that any bitmap (.bmp) or jpeg image can beloaded into the Alternate Climate Coloration window, and the A.C.C.Window will read the image in terms of assigning different sections of theimage to different climate zones on the resulting map. To demonstrate this– let's start with the image of a woman's face.:
Fractal Terrains Pro will read the image and distribute pieces of that imageacross the generated map in the form of surface textures assignedbroadly to “climate zones”, but more specifically, to values of “x” and “y”.Every tiny part of the image has a temperature value (x), and aprecipitation value (y). Every (x,y) coordinate on the picture hascorresponding values of temperature and precipitation (rainfall), so thatthe pieces of the image will be painted onto your generated mapaccording to how you have painted or designed your map's climate zonesin F.T. Pro.
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Again – here is the woman's face, only this time with the default climatezones and a reference grid superimposed over it.:
Here you can see roughly how the image will be divided up by F.T. Pro.This is how F.T. Pro reads the image and translates the picture data inorder to use it as a climate based map shader. The “default” climate zoneareas are more or less broad generalizations – but more precise andcomprehensive climate zones can be created in a separate graphics editorwith a little homework.
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Here is the global map render done in Fractal Terrains Pro – based uponthe image of the woman's face.:
As you can see – the results are chaotic, but interesting nonetheless.Just to recap – any jpeg or bitmap image can be used as a climate shaderin Fractal Terrains Pro. You are by no means limited to using the basic 256color F.T. Pro palette to texture your maps.
The “true” colorations that you see on actual satellite images of the Earthare caused by four factors,: #1, geography, #2, ecology, #3, atmosphericconditions, and #4, albedo (solar reflection / refraction). These same fourfactors also determine the Earth's climate zones to a large extent. How aplanet appears in space in mostly dependent upon it's own uniqueclimatology.
If you are creating image climate files to make maps of “Earth like” worlds,then the best source of textures for cutting and pasting together a decentImage Climate file would be good high resolution color images of theEarth's surface. Luckily those are pretty easy to find over the internet, andmost of them are public domain / open access images. Next – we are goingto briefly cover the simple operation of loading an image climate file intoFractal Terrains Pro, so that you can shade your map's land areas.
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“2b, Loading The Image Climate File.”:
“Loading in an image climate file is very easy.” Simply open the AlternateClimate Coloration window and click the button at the bottom of thewindow that reads “Load Image From Disk...”.:
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When you click “Load Image From Disk” - you need to only locate theimage that you want in the “Select Climate Image File” pop up Window – inwhatever folders / subdirectories that you have them stored in. Select thedesired image file, and then click the “Open” button in the “Select ClimateImage File” window.
When you see your image climate file displayed in the Alternate ClimateColoration window – simply click the “Ok” button.
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Remember that in order to get the full effect of the Terraformer shadingsystem, you'll have to first set the .lgt file for your ocean / sea colors first.If you have already done this in the “Lighting And Color” window as thismanual has already showed you, (beginning on page 25) – then you shouldsee your ocean colors when you select the “Show Altitude” option underthe “Map” F.T. Pro menu option. You can do this to check and see if your.lgt file selection is correct.
After you have selected your .lgt file in the Lighting And Color window –you simply load in your image climate file in the Alternate ClimateColoration window – click “Ok” - and there you have it. The land areas ofyour map will be textured, and your ocean / sea colors will be defined.Next – we are going to cover cloud layering...
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Step 3: Cloud Layering In FractalTerrains Pro.:
“AAAAdding a cloud layer to your map is like putting a cherry on top of an ice
cream sundae, it's the perfect finishing touch. Fractal Terrains Pro givesyou several different options in it's layering window that can put manydifferent kinds of potential cloud cover effects conveniently at yourfingertips, (depending upon your available cloud maps and color images).Here are a few examples of various cloud map configurations that weredone using the Terraformer cloud map resources with Fractal TerrainsPro.:
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Many of the Terraformer cloud maps were created from NASA cloud mapimages, NOAA satellite weather images, and parts of Hari Nair's “Xplanet”cloud maps that are generated periodically from mosaic satellite imagesthrough links at the Xplanet web site. Some of the cloud maps are straightforward, unmodified examples from NASA, Hari Nair(Xplanet), and fromBjörn Jónsson's composite / derivative compilations. The Terraformerpackage contains many useful cloud maps and color maps that shouldprovide you with an abundance of cloud layering options.
To begin applying a cloud layer to your map, let's locate the Image Overlaywindow.:
You'll want to select the “Image Overlays” F.T. Pro menu option, and thenclick on the “Show Overlay Window” drop down menu option.
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Notice the buttons at the bottom of the window labeled “Add”, “Edit”,“Show”, “Hide”, and “Set Active”. To simply add a cloud layer to your map,you need only really concern yourself with the “Add” and “Edit” buttonsfor now. Go ahead and click the “Add” button.:
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You should now see a new pop up window – the “Edit Image Overlay”window.:
The only parts of this window that you should be concerned about at thispoint is the “Ok” button - the “Opacity” slider control - and the “ImportColor Image”, and “Import Opacity Image” buttons at the bottom of thewindow. The edit image overlay window can be used to add overlays withtransparency maps of any type – properly scaled - to your map, but it'smost visible function is the addition of cloud layers. Make absolutely surethat the “Visible” box is checked in the upper left corner of the window!
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First – you'll import a color image, which will provide the coloration of yourclouds. This image could be merely a jpeg or bitmap that is nothing morethan a solid color, (for example, white), or - you can use the cloud map(opacity map), itself as the color layer, (either method works). In this casehowever, you will be importing a plain color map, (white). You should firstclick the “Import Color Image” button in the lower left corner of the EditImage Overlay window.:
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After clicking the “Import Color Image” button, the “Load Image File”window will pop up. Locate the “CLOUD_MAPS” folder in your Terraformerdesktop folder, (through the “Load Image File” window), and open it.Now select the “CloudColor1” image file, and click “Open” at the bottomright corner of the “Load Image File” window.
Within your Terraformer “CLOUD_MAPS” folder there are four cloud colorimage files labeled from “CloudColor1” to “CloudColor4”. For this example– you will be using the white cloud color image file, (CloudColor1).:
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Now Fractal Terrains Pro will ask you if you want to use the upper left pixelof the image as the color that denotes transparency, (for example – if theextreme upper left pixel of the image is black, then black will be translatedto be the transparency color for that image). This is unnecessary if yourusing an “opacity map”, (transparency map), so since we will be importinga separate transparency map, (cloud map), click the “NO” button on thequery window.:
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Next – you will import the opacity image, (transparency map / cloud map).This is your actual cloud map. The cloud maps are all in black and white.By default – F.T. Pro will read black as being transparent, and white asbeing opaque. Since the cloud map itself is not being imported as thecolor image as well – then it only serves as a transparency map andnothing else. If you had chosen a color other than the white image,(CloudColor1), as your imported “Color Image” - than the resulting clouds,as they would appear on your map, would be rendered in that color.
Click on the “Import Opacity Image” button.:
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After clicking the “Import Opacity Image” button – you should now see the“Load Transparency Image File” pop up window appear. Just as you did inthe “Load Image File” pop up window previously, locate your Terraformerfolder in the window, then your “CLOUD_MAPS” folder, and then – as anexample – select the “StormyEarth1” image file. Now click the window's“Open” button in the lower right corner of the window.:
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Now you will return to the “Edit Image Overlay” window. Note that“CloudColor1” is listed in the “Name” box. This is because you importedthe color image first, so by default F.T. Pro is calling this layer“CloudColor1”. You can change this if you'de like, but in this case – we'llleave it as is. Also notice in the “Edit Image Overlay” window that the“Opacity” slider control is at 100%. That means that the opaque (solid)areas of the cloud map has zero transparency. Next – you will click the“Ok” button in the upper right corner of the window.:
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Now you will have come full circle – and you are back once again at the“Image Overlays” pop up window. Notice that “CloudColor1” is now listedas the first (and in this case – only), layer in the list.:
Your new cloud layer / atmosphere should also now be visible on yourrendered map in Fractal Terrain Pro's main viewing window. The job isessentially done. If you aren't happy with it – then you just select the layername in the list box by clicking on it and highlighting it, (in this case“CloudColor1”), and then proceed to click the “Edit” button at bottom leftof the Image Overlays window. You would then be redirected back to theEdit Image Overlay window – where you can repeat the entire process fora new cloud layer, change the color of your clouds by importing a newcolor image (then re-importing your opacity image), or change thetransparency of your clouds with the “Opacity” slider control. There areseveral other adjustments that can be made – and for more information onthose features you can consult your Fractal Terrains Pro user's guide.
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If you'll recall back on page 51, it was mentioned that you can also importa cloud map as a color image instead of a solid single colored image, andthen import the same map as an opacity image (transparency). Thistechnique does work, but – depending on the cloud map that you use,sometimes you can get results that are very natural looking – and othertimes you might get gray outlines or shadows that can clash with the worldfeatures, and stand out too much. It's good to experiment with bothmethods, especially if you have new cloud maps that you have collected.
We have just covered the basics of cloud layering in Fractal Terrains Pro.You can consult the Fractal Terrains Pro user's guide for furtherinformation on the topics that we have covered thus far.
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Terraformer Package Contents List:
“The following is a list of the complete contents of the Terraformer
Accessory Package For Profantasy Software's Fractal Terrains Pro –Release 0.001.:
#1, Terraformer “Read Me” file in .txt format,
#2, Terraformer User's Manual in .pdf format,
#3, Terraformer “LGT” folder containing:
#3a, Lighting And Color file T_01.lgt,
#3b, Lighting And Color file T_02.lgt,
#3c, Lighting And Color file T_03.lgt,
#3d, Lighting And Color file T_04.lgt,
#3e, Lighting And Color file T_05.lgt,
#3f, Lighting And Color file T_06.lgt,
#3g, Lighting And Color file T_07.lgt,
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#4, Terraformer “IMAGE_CLIMATES” folder containing:
#4a, ALTOPO.bmp alternative topographical image climate file,
#4b, ICJS0001.bmp image climate file by Joe Slayton,
#4c, TERRAFORMER image climate files “TIC001.bmp” to “TIC125.bmp” (125 image climate files in .bmp, (Windows bit map), format),
#4d, “TICT”.jpeg image climate file template,
#5, Terraformer “CLOUD_MAPS” folder containing:
#5a, BjörnJónssonVenus.jpeg colored cloud map,
#5b, BjörnJónssonVenusALPHA1.jpeg cloud map,
#5c, BjörnJónssonVenusALPHA2.jpeg cloud map,
#5d, Color images “CloudColor1.jpeg” to “CloudColor4.jpeg”, (four color images),
#5e, Hari Nair / Xplanet cloud maps “HNXP1.jpeg” to “HNXP11”.jpeg, (11 clouds maps in the series),
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#5f, JPLVenus.jpeg colored cloud map,
#5g, JPLVenusAlpha.jpeg cloud map,
#5h, NASA cloud maps NASACM1.jpeg to NASACM5.jpeg, (five cloud maps in the series),
#5i, Cloud maps “StormyEarth1.jpeg” to “StormyEarth4.jpeg”, (four cloud maps in the series).
#5j, Experimental cloud map “TERRAFCM1.jpeg”,
#6, Terraformer Promo Image “Tpromo.jpeg”.
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